Gallery of Public Banking Supporters.

Hannah-Leigh Bull

Hannah-Leigh Bull
Llama Deara Ranch

"We have seen public banking work well in North Dakota. The small forward-looking population of New Mexico is ripe to make public banking possible here, too. The entrenched financial institutions can be challenging to work with, especially ideologically."

Ken Baumann

Ken Baumann

"Massive centralized banks are dangerous institutions, and have no real stake in any given locale that they serve. Supporting a public bank is supporting a future in which local, decentralized institutions make our cities safer and more responsive to local needs. Santa Fe is a resilient American city, and a Public Bank for Santa Fe will make Santa Fe even stronger."

Michael Meade

Michael Meade

"As many institutions around this country and the world, particularly commercial banks, are falling apart, Public Banking is an idea whose time has come. Santa Fe's City Council has an opportunity to lead the way into the future by embracing this new direction and adopting the resolution recently introduced by Councilor Renee Villarreal and supported by Councilors Carmichael Dominguez and Joseph Maestes who are to be commended on their foresight.
Public Banking is a transformed monetary and banking system that functions in the public interest, resulting in broadly shared prosperity. The benefits to Santa Fe include revenue from bank loans of the city’s tax deposits, lower interest and fees"

Sarah Meade

Sarah Meade

"The time to switch to public banking is long overdue. I support public banking in New Mexico and the creation of the Public Bank of Santa Fe. Let us take out money out of the large banking institutions that continue to fail the American public and invest in harmful projects for the planet and humanity. The youth stand with this movement!"

Steven Robinson

Steven Robinson
Steven Robinson Architects

Roxanne Barber

Roxanne Barber

"With the many challenges we face here in New Mexico, we can't afford to pay millions of dollars every year in fees and interest to the big banks who use our money for risky investments. We need to keep our money here in New Mexico to benefit our communities, our land, our people.
"

JC Corcoran

JC Corcoran
Plant Peace Daily

Meryl Lieberman

Meryl Lieberman

"A public bank could greatly improve our infrastructure, fiscal accountability, and access to affordable housing as we strive to eradicate homelessness in Santa Fe. I urge my neighbors and colleagues to join in this effort to bridge the economic divide in the city we call home. "

Charles Koenig

Linda Trujillo

Linda Trujillo
State Representative Elect District 48New Mexico House of Representatives

"The time has come for us to strategically diversify New Mexico's source of revenue. I support the creation of a Public Bank as one piece of the solution. A Public Bank would be a mechanism to make our money work for us and is an investment in our future."

Jay Bunker

Jay Bunker

"I support Public Banking for New Mexico because "We The People" can truly benefit from the investment in our local economy rather than supporting big banks that are only interested in their stockholders."

Paul Gibson

Paul Gibson
Gibson & Associates

" I had the good fortune to work on this initiative before Bernie kidnapped all my time. This is one of those no-brainer initiatives that only the 1% could oppose. It has the potential to save the city millions of dollars by vastly reducing the cost of its bonds to improve city infrastructure. As importantly, it would take our city's money out of the Wall St. vulture bankers who will invest it in anything that might make a profit, no matter how risky or how much the enterprise rapes our planet and exploits other countries. In a public bank, our City's funds can be used to build our local economy and our local infrastructure."

Dominique Mazeaud

Bobbe Besold

Bobbe Besold

"It's time we controlled our own money, by keeping that resource in our state to benefit those who live here. And then, instead of New Mexico being one of the poorest states in the union, we grow to be one where everyone has enough to eat, enough to pay the rent, enough to buy the kids clothes and enough to be able to take a few days off from work every week. Let's give everyone a good life."

Lorenzo Mondragon

Lorenzo Mondragon

Clifton Chadwick

Clifton Chadwick
Board Member, KeepItQuerque

"We are in a period in which we are all empowered to leverage a Horizontal Economy, where our individual power to choose counts more than ever. Not only is a Public Bank good for Santa Fe, Public Banking is good for Albuquerque, for New Mexico and for the United States of America. Santa Fe's bold action on this front will prove, in retrospect, to have helped get us past a tipping point where Local Economies lead the way for the nation, just as they have on other fronts like Marriage Equality, Marijuana Law Reform and more."

Brad Laughlin
CoreLight

Nancy Woodward

Nancy Woodward

"A pubic bank for Santa Fe is another piece of strengthening our local economy. Our Santa Fe Public Bank will use our city taxes, fees and fines wisely to improve quality of life for all of us and build a sustainable future. Let's work together to make this happen!
"

Stefany Burrowes

Stefany Burrowes
Sensational Wisdom Coaching

"Public Banking is a powerful way to empower our local Santa Fe and New Mexico communities financially, economically, culturally, and socially. This will support individuals, businesses, and communities at both state and local levels while freeing us from the control and greed of the big banks."

Katherine Wagoner

Katherine Wagoner
LaPosada de Santa Fe

Walter Dilts

Walter Dilts

"I support the creation of a public bank for Santa Fe. I am a board member of We Are People Here and a long-time friend of Craig Barnes, who was dedicated to public banking in New Mexico. Banking on New Mexico, an initiative of We Are People Here, is actively working to establish a Public Bank for Santa Fe, a sensible plan to keep tax dollars in Santa Fe to support its citizens."

Carol Norris

Carol Norris

"A public bank would benefit all Santa Feans by keeping our public funds at home where they belong so they can be reinvested in the things we need to keep our local economy strong and our communities vibrant. Enough with the Big Banks that don't give a hoot about us."

Pam Gilchrist

Pam Gilchrist

"Thousands of hours of thinking outside the box have gone into the creation of a chartered Public Bank - managed by bankers, not politicians - which would use community taxes, fees and fines to fund our own community needs!"

Shelly Browning

Shelly Browning

Janet Graham

Janet Graham

"I am very pleased to endorse public banking in New Mexico! I think it is essential to grow funds locally for projects that will directly benefit our community members. Providing loans with low, reasonable interest rates, and keeping interest returns in our "own local pockets" to grow additional available funding seem like a "no brainer"."

Bill Light

Bill Light

Denys Cope

Denys Cope

"I believe that our community and local economy will be advantaged and enriched by thinking globally and acting locally. Craig Barnes was a savvy visionary, and all those he drew into the movement are a testament to wisdom being actuated."

Stephen Schmidt

Stephen Schmidt

"Public banking is just common sense, providing local solutions and using tax payer money to the highest efficiency, providing low interest loans locally, stimulating local economies, and keeping money safer by keeping it out of big banks which are still heavily exposed to large risks."

Bob Mang

Bob Mang

Michelle Mosser

Michelle Mosser
BrandNature

"Chartering a city-owned public bank in Santa Fe can save the City considerable money by refinancing existing debt at lower rates and can provide new sources of income, from higher interest rates earned by the City on its deposits. And the public bank’s profits will remain in our community rather than be paid to global bank stockholders or bonding agencies."

Gershon Siegel

Gershon Siegel

"Washington’s gridlock continues to prevent our national government from doing it’s stated constitutional work of promoting the general welfare. Local government must now fill the vacuum created by a moribund centralized system directed, in large part, by corporate interests. Creating a Public Bank for Santa Fe is a sensible, doable, action aimed at revitalizing a city struggling with debt caused in large part by the predatory behavior of the privatized banking system."

Dee Gamble

Dee Gamble

"A bank makes money. That is what they do. It is so logical for the city of Santa Fe to have its own bank, seeded from public receipts, managed by qualified personnel, to invest in improving the city according to public interests. Enough of paying interest to big banks! Lets pay interest into the city and use those funds for improving our community. It’s time to do it! We can create a Public Bank.
"

George Gamble

George Gamble

"I endorse the movement to establish a Public Bank for Santa Fe, made in the spirit and hope of having a Public Bank that will more efficiently and safely utilize our public funds at the same time, providing greater attention and financial support to local community needs. This emphasis on local development will result in widespread social and economic benefits for the entire community. This is a Capital YES for all of us."

Sally Sabo

Sally Sabo

Debrianna Mansini

Debrianna Mansini
Actress, Activist

"A public bank is just that - a bank that belongs to the public NOT to its shareholders- shareholders that may live, and likely do, in other states. It's a bank accountable to its community and invested in that community being prosperous-not just in the short run, but long term. It is a bank that I would bank on- without a doubt. "

Kenneth Mayers

Kenneth Mayers
Veterans For Peace – Santa Fe

"I support a Public Bank for Santa Fe because it would be a small but important step in reducing the vice-grip that plutocracy has on American life through the power of the mega-banks and the corporate “deep government” they support, thus contributing to a renaissance of peace and justice locally and globally. "

Lannie Loeks & Chris Clemens

Lannie Loeks & Chris Clemens

"We support a public bank because it will keep local funds here in Santa Fe where they can be used by our own community. We will not be paying homage to those on Wall Street for the privilege of investing our funds with them. This is a way to not only save that money Wall Street is typically the beneficiary of, it will also assist local businesses here in Santa Fe and develop our own community."

Esther Kovari

Esther Kovari
Educator, Grandmother

"I support a public bank for New Mexico, because I want my grandson to grow up in a state where our financial resources are used for the good of the many, not the profit of the few! Baby Jericho thinks it's a good idea too!"

Leona Stucky-Abbott

Leona Stucky-Abbott

"As a therapist I often think about people’s well-being. When I focus on the well-being of our Santa Fe community, I hope for a public bank that would make money for us rather than give our money to huge national financial institutions. We could have a bank that would know us and support our projects and small businesses. We could keep our money local and watch it build our economy. Why pay big banks that often don’t pay taxes and that broke our national and world economy in 2008 to do what we can do for ourselves? I support keeping our money local in our own public bank. It’s an ethical way to boost our well-being."

Owen Lopez

Owen Lopez

"I support the creation of a public bank in Santa Fe because it provides the opportunity for us as citizens to keep our community money (taxes, fines and fees) in Santa Fe supporting community projects rather than enriching outside investors."

Marcia Wolf

Marcia Wolf
NM Licensed Real Estate Qualifying Broker, Retired

"For several decades we the people have seen the systematic degradation of banking and financial regulations which caused the biggest economic collapse of our generation. We have seen municipalities in bankruptcy or struggling to meet the barest of services or increasing the burden of more taxes on a citizenry dealing with their own financial ruin or job loss. WeArePeopleHere! resurrected a long used sensible plan of a public bank for Santa Fe to keep our tax dollars in Santa Fe and serving the people of Santa Fe, not corporate banks now too big to fail. Please learn more and support WeArePeopleHere!, its Banking on New Mexico program and a Public Bank for Santa Fe."

Chris Calvert

Chris Calvert
Former Santa Fe District 1 City Councilor

"A public bank for Santa Fe is a capital idea! At a time when the municipal budget is strained, a public bank in Santa Fe would mean less money leaving the community to pay interest expenses to large national banks and more money invested in the local economy."

Pat Padilla

Pat Padilla
Business owner

"We are long time owners of a small business...the "banksters" have not been friendly to our company when we really needed financial help. We even offered all kinds of collateral. We are parents, grandparents & great-grandparents. Looking forward to "our PUBLIC BANK FOR SANTA FE!" We both loved Craig Barnes and alI the work he's done."

Wanda Ross Padilla

Wanda Ross Padilla
Author, Life Coach

"We are long time owners of a small business...the "banksters" have not been friendly to our company when we really needed financial help. We even offered all kinds of collateral. We are parents, grandparents & great-grandparents. Looking forward to "our PUBLIC BANK FOR SANTA FE!" We both loved Craig Barnes and alI the work he's done."

Merle Lefkoff

"As citizen activists all over the world mobilize to resist the global economic system pushing climate change, a BIG solution is offered right here in Santa Fe. Our precious taxes that we pay to serve community needs must have a container safe from the corruption of risky banking investment. The powerful and exciting answer is a Public Bank for Santa Fe, and I’m Banking on New Mexico!
"

Alan Webber

Alan Webber
Entrepreneur, Author, former candidate for Democratic Nomination for GovernorOne New Mexico

"Santa Fe and New Mexico are in serious trouble—losing jobs, losing opportunities, losing people, losing opportunities for a better future. It’s the kind of crisis that reminds me of 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt stepped into the White House in a time of dire national economic danger and began to try things, to experiment, to think differently. That’s what we need to do! We need to have the courage to try a public bank for Santa Fe, to support our own small and medium-size businesses, to jumpstart jobs and economic activity in our own community. Doing nothing is not an option. Working together is the way to find our way forward."

Lois Mee

Lois Mee

"As leaders in Agua Fria Village a small rural community, with the highest poverty rate in Santa Fe County in 2000, we have huge infrastructure needs and a low tax base which makes us uncompetitive in a statewide Capital Outlay process, or for shrinking federal grants. Public Banking puts us on a level playing field. For our acequia appropriation, which we have 5 years to spend, it took the state 18 months to issue the Bond on Wall Street and then the state came back at us telling us we aren't spending the money fast enough---the old system is broken."

William Mee

William Mee

"As leaders in Agua Fria Village a small rural community, with the highest poverty rate in Santa Fe County in 2000, we have huge infrastructure needs and a low tax base which makes us uncompetitive in a statewide Capital Outlay process, or for shrinking federal grants. Public Banking puts us on a level playing field. For our acequia appropriation, which we have 5 years to spend, it took the state 18 months to issue the Bond on Wall Street and then the state came back at us telling us we aren't spending the money fast enough---the old system is broken."

Melanie West

Melanie West
Photographer

"Growing up in New Mexico I believe I learned to enjoy a merger of the classic and the innovative. A Public Bank is an old idea that can serve us well in these modern times. We can be innovative and smart while we keep the local financial strength for direct investment in our community."

Glenn Schiffbauer

"One of the Green Chamber's basic tenets is to create strong local economies by keeping as many dollars in the community as possible. It's would seem that a local public bank is a vital component in making Santa Fe a wealthier community as a whole."

Ellen Brown

Ellen Brown
Author & Founder of Public Banking Institute

"Congratulations to the Banking on New Mexico group for the exciting progress you have made toward establishing a Public Bank for Santa Fe! It’s a fine tribute to the dedication of Craig Barnes, and a very hard-working team. Two thumbs up!"